Are there different kinds of redwoods? How do coastal redwoods grow to become the tallest organisms on earth? Why are there so few old growth trees left? How important are banana slugs to the redwood ecosystems? Answer these questions and more every Saturday on our Redwood Grove Walks. One of our knowledgeable and friendly docents will lead you through the wondrous old growth forest and answer any questions you may have. Meet at the visitor center. Event free. Vehicle day-use fee is $10. Event made possible by Mountain Parks Foundation and California State Parks.

Live Tutoring: Students draw or type their question in our online classroom and receive live homework assistance from a Brainfuse-certified tutor. Our tutors don't simply give answers but help students master underlying academic concepts.

SkillSurfer: SkillSurfer includes an extensive library of Brainfuse-created lessons, video tutorials, and practice tests in a wide range of academic subjects, and further integrates them with live tutoring.

Christmas Goose BoutiqueCelebrating 38 years of holiday decorations and gifts Date: Every day (Nov 7-Nov 10)

The Christmas Goose Boutique was started 36 years ago this holiday season at a home in Saratoga. As, the show grew it was moved to the Saratoga Foothill Club where it stayed for the next sixteen years. The show soon became a community event for the Saratoga and Los Gatos area.

We do a "blended setup" instead of booths so we may show the merchandise in themes or styles, which our customers seem to enjoy. Come and taste our homemade foods and hug the handmade dolls, touch the quilts, smile at the decorations, antiques and other collectibles.

Held at the Historic History Club of Los Gatos. Parking permitted in residential area. Side parking lot has disabled parking, customer drop off and merchandise pick up.

Exploratorium, Pier 15A whimsical winter exhibition where small sculptures are brought to life by intricate arrangements of handmade cams, cranks, and Date: Every day (Nov 8-Jan 20) from 10:00am to 5:00pm

The Exploratorium isn't just a museum; it's an ongoing exploration of science, art and human perception-a vast collection of online experiences that feed your curiosity.

Celebrate the opening of Curious Contraptions, our whimsical winter exhibition where small sculptures are brought to life by intricate arrangements of handmade cams, cranks, and other simple mechanisms.

GoogleGoogle Science Fair is an online science competition, open to students between the ages of 13 and 18 from around the world. Date: Every day (Sep 13-Dec 12)

Google Science Fair is an online science competition, open to students between the ages of 13 and 18 from around the world.

You can sign up starting September 13th 2018 by visiting googlesciencefair.com and clicking on the Start your project button. If you're not sure where to start, you can get help by taking a look at our Student resources and checking out some out some of our previous winners.

This competition is open to full-time and home-schooled students around the world, between ages of 13 and 18 (these ages are slightly different in a few countries like Israel, South Korea and Europe). See the Official Rules for more details.

Bookshop Santa CruzMeet the Grinch and have your picture taken! Date: 11/08/2018 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm

SAVE THE DATE and come meet the #Grinch and have your picture taken! Enjoy downtown Santa Cruz during the holidays and stop in at Bookshop to say hi to the Grinch and enjoy some fun holiday activities for the kids. More details to come!

Marini'sHurry, spots sell out fast! Tell Marini's you found out about this workshop on SantaCruzParent.com! Date: Every day (Nov 1-Dec 23) Admission Fees: $50/gingerbread house Special Instructions: Classes 11/24 - 12/23

Gingerbread House Workshops

For kids of all ages! Beautiful gingerbread houses that you design and create.

Our popular Gingerbread Workshops are back again this year! New dates and times added! Visit us on line at www.mariniscandies.com to sign up! Classes fill quickly!

Classes fill quickly so call to reserve your spot.

Dates 11/24 - 12/23

Tell Marini's you found out about this workshop on SantaCruzParent.com!

Library CentralOrigami for Peace with Nate and Drew Date: Every 2 weeks on Th (Aug 5-Nov 30) from 3:00pm to 5:00pm Ages: All Admission Fees: Free Special Instructions: 1st and 3rd Sundays

Come learn to fold origami out of recycled paper or just come to hone your skills with Drew Glover and Origami Master Nathaniel Kennedy. Folding instruction will be centered around the crane, but other styles will be available for people to learn once they master the crane fold.

Join community members the first and third Sundays of the month as we gather to share our intentions of compassion, unity and peace in our world. This event is all ages and free to the public.

This on-going event repeats every 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month. The location for 1st Sundays is the upstairs meeting room. The location for 3rd Sundays is a table on 1st floor area.

"Six Characters In Search Of an Author," written by Luigi Pirandello, a Nobel Prize-winning playwright, and adapted by MarNae Taylor and Donna Johansen, takes place in a theatre where a rehearsal is happening, and six mysterious strangers appear. An intellectual comedy exploring other realities and relationships, the strangers explain that they are characters created for a play that the author never got around to writing. They are trapped in an eternal present unless they can persuade the theatre director to stage their drama. The director and actors resist but agree to hear their story.

Dates and place are November 8th-10th at 7:30 and the 11th at 2:00 Center Stage in Santa Cruz.

English Country DancingIt's really, really fun! Date: The 2nd Th of every month from 7:00pm to 9:30pm

Ten Reasons to Go English Country Dancing

1 It’s Really, Really Fun.

2 It’s Easy: If you can count and skip and tell your right hand from your left, you can begin doing the easy dances immediately. This form of dance does not require fancy footwork or a high level of coordination. This is an excellent place to learn, even if you’ve never done any folk dancing. Beginners are very welcome.

3 It’s Social: The level of interaction that occurs between all the dancers in the set make this a very social dance form. Singles or partners are welcome. This is a very friendly community, and a great way to meet new people.

4 It’s Good Exercise: How many calories did you burn the last time you watched a TV show? Yeah, that’s what we thought. Although English country dancing is not as strenuous as a workout at the gym, it does a whole lot more for your health than a sitcom and a bag of potato chips. It’s a good, light exercise.

5 It’s Casual: We are not a performance troupe, so our goal is not to make the dances look perfect. Our goal is to have fun, and we can do that without requiring technical perfection. Come as you are, wear casual clothes, relax and enjoy it.

6 It’s Low-Tech: Tired of staring at a computer screen all day? So are we. Come dance with us! We won’t require you to look at a computer screen all night. We promise!

9 It Brings Together People of All Ages: This form of entertainment appeals to a wide range of ages, which helps bridge the gap between generations. Whether you’re a teen, a septuagenarian, or someone in between, there’s a place here for you.

10 Did We Mention That It’s Really, Really Fun?

Dance Schedule

Come dance with us! We usually meet on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, from 7:00—9:30 p.m., at Peace United Church (upper hall), 900 High Street, Santa Cruz, California. (We meet on only the second Thursday in November and December.)

Writer and historian Gregory Hinton will present a a dynamic lecture with vintage posters and photographs illuminating the remarkable legacy of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody - frontiersman, scout and world famous showman. Hinton's talk will underscore Cody's deep ties to the Golden State.

From 1877 through 1916 Cody's bond with California was strong, including statewide tours in multiple cities stretching from Oakland to San Diego. Buffalo Bill visited Santa Cruz in 1910, 1914 and 1915. This program is offered courtesy of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West (BBCW) in Cody, Wyoming. It was created in celebration of the 2017 Buffalo Bill Centennial.

ABOUT GREGORY HINTONGregory Hinton is a writer, historian and lecturer. Hinton consults with among this nation's finest western museums and historical institutions and lectures around the country. Hinton holds a 2009 Residency at Wyoming's Ucross Foundation and a 2011 Buffalo Bill Center of the West Resident Fellowship.

His play, Waiting for a Chinook, received its world premiere at the 2013 Snowy Range Summer Theatre Festival in Laramie. In 2015, Hinton was appointed Associate Editor of the Papers of William F. Cody for his abstract, "Out West with Buffalo Bill." Gregory Hinton was honored to offer the keynote at the General Assembly of the 2016 Western Museums Association Annual Meeting in Phoenix.

Gregory has been profiled in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, multiple NPR affiliates, and metro and community newspapers throughout the West. A proud Wyoming son, Hinton takes equal pride in his adopted state of California, dividing his efforts between both.

Santa Cruz Museum of Natural HistoryMeet the Artist: December 7th, 6-8pm. Free to the public. Date: Every day (Oct 5-Jan 6) from 10:00am to 5:00pm Ages: All ages

Pathways Through Our Parks,Paintings of Parks in Santa Cruz County by Ann Elizabeth Thiermann

October 5, 2018 - January 6, 2019

Ann Thiermann's series of pastel and acrylic paintings invite the viewer to visually linger over the flora and fauna along the pathways of our extraordinarily diverse parks in Santa Cruz County. From river to sea, chaparral to marsh, and rustic to urban, creatures both wild and domestic, marine and terrestrial, historic and contemporary inhabit her park pathways in a variety of seasonal and weather conditions.

Explore these iconic Santa Cruz views and discover them for yourself in our abundant parks and open spaces.

Opening Reception for Members: October 5th, 6-8pmMeet the Artist: December 7th, 6-8pm. Free to the public.

About the Artist:

Ann Elizabeth Thiermann, MFA is inspired by living, hiking, and painting in beautiful Santa Cruz County. Her creativity is fueled by her artistic family, Sylvie, the studio cat, her folk dancing friends, teaching and leading art trips abroad. In addition to painting landscapes and murals, daily joy comes from swimming, camping, and visiting the farmer's market and working in her garden. Movement in her art is reinforced by her time playing organ, piano and harpsichord as a church musician.

SCPL's CodeCombat Coding Club is a once weekly meetup where we use online, game-based coding to learn Python and JavaScript. CodeCombat is a real game that teaches learners of all ages to code by playing through levels and quickly mastering programming concepts. It's not just gamification with bells and whistles, it's democratizing learning to code by making the process more accessible and engaging than ever before!

Learners write code, execute it and see their changes in real-time! Ages 8-18. Gamers will create teams by age.

Space is limited and registration is required. Register by email pro@santacruzpl.org or call 831-427-7717.

Expedition Academy Santa CruzCome Meet the Founders! Date: 11/08/2018 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm Ages: Parents of middle schoolers Admission Fees: FREE Special Instructions: This is a Parent Coffee, there are no planned activities for younger children.

Drop by the Expedition Academy Santa Cruz studio. Meet the founders and learn about our program.

This Q&A is intended for parents of middle school-aged children who want to learn more about how we have changed the middle school experience.

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